Officials have ordered all tourists to leave as well as all RVs. Mandatory evacuations also are in place for residents in Highland View, Wind Mark, St. Joe Beach, Beacon Hill to the county line and for the City of Port St. Joe for everyone from St. Joseph Bay to North Garrison Avenue and everyone from the bay to Garrison Avenue.

Evacuations are underway and time is running for Floridians to prepare for Helene, which threatens to hit as the strongest storm to make landfall in the United States in over a year.

The storm, which could make landfall as a Category 4 hurricane and create storm surges of up to 18 feet across parts of the Gulf Coast, forced at least 16 Florida counties to issue mandatory evacuations,